oven fries

World's best oven fries

4 russet potatoes
3-Tbs oil
salt, spices as desired


0. preheat oven to 450
1. scrub the potatoes and slice into about 10-12 slices (keep 'em the same size)
2. Soak the sliced potatoes in hot water for 5 minutes
3. drain and dry the potatoes
4. coat a cookie sheet with oil - more generous is better!
5. lay the potatoes out in an even layer and generously salt (consider chili powder, cayenne for spicy fries!)
6. cover with foil and put in the oven
7. After 5 min remove the foil and bake another 25 min
8. flip, season, bake 10 minutes more

Goodies

I nearly lost the post-it with Rob's favorite cookies on it, so here it is:

Goodies

Combine:
2 c sugar
1/4lbs margarine
1/2 c milk
in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil 1 min to softball (234)

add

1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats (approx)

drop onto wax paper and allow to harden

Marrow Jam

This is part 3(4?) in my continuing quest to use more zucchini. Richard suggested this one to me. Apparently the brits call zucchini 'marrow' which is why my google searches for zucchini failed to yeild this excellent recipie

1 kg peeled and seeded zucchini
1 kg sugar
2 lemons
1 Tbs fresh ginger, finely chopped

1.Cut the zucchini into chunks and combine with the sugar in a saucepan.
2.Add the zest and juice of 2 lemons and the minced ginger.
3.Slowly bring to a boil and then boil over moderate heat until it reaches jelly stage.
pour into jars and cool.
Refridgerate until you're ready to eat it on toast.

IMPORTANT. I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS ACIDIC ENOUGH TO CAN. DO NOT CAN THIS, ESPECIALLY AT ALTITUDE UNLESS YOU HAVE A pH METER. My friendly local USU extension rep says the following when I emailed about this recipe : "I also can't tell if it is acidic enough to can. Usually canning recipes use bottled lemon juice, because that is the only way to tell if it has 5% acidity. Zucchini is very low acid and cannot be canned by itself."

Carrot slaw

Apparently I'm quite a bit behind in posting the remainder of those infamous 'gems' found in the 2007 Cooking Light magazine. My next favorite item was a carrot slaw

4 cups grated carrots
1 15oz can pineapple chunks (drained, juice reserved)
1/2 cup crasins (or raisins if your family eats 'em)
2 Tbs canola oil
2 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs pineapple juice
2 Tbs maple syrup
salt pepper

Whisk together the lemon juice, pineapple juice, oil and maple syrup and pour over carrots, pineapple, and crasins in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Oatmeal-Chai Buttermilk pancakes

I ran into the March 2007 issue of Cooking light and found several gems, the first:

OATMEAL-CHAI BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
* 12 whole cloves
* 8 cardamom pods, crushed
* 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick, broken
* 1 (1-inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, coarsely chopped
* 2 teaspoons black tea leaves (such as Darjeeling or Assam)
* 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 cups regular oats


Preparation

Combine first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in tea leaves, and steep 2 minutes. Strain mixture through a sieve into a large bowl; discard solids. Stir in buttermilk; cool to room temperature. Add butter, vanilla, and eggs; stir well with a whisk.

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to milk mixture; stir until combined. Stir in oats. Cover and let stand 15 minutes. Pour about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto a hot nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet. Cook 2 minutes or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Carefully turn pancakes over; cook 2 minutes or until bottoms are lightly browned.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
249 (24% from fat)
Fat:
6.6g (sat 2.7g,mono 2g,poly 0.8g)
Protein:
10.6g
Carbohydrate:
37.8g
Fiber:
2.8g
Cholesterol:
80mg
Iron:
2.3mg
Sodium:
589mg
Calcium:
199mg

Bruchetta

It is now late summer and the peak of tomato season. Time for simple delicious food, straight from the garden:


(blogger is insistent this photo goes this direction, despite my attempts to rotate it)


Tomatoes (Roma, cherry)
Basil
Olive oil
pepper
salt
bread

1.Bake yourself up a batch of 5-min bread and put a slice in the toaster


2. Head out back and pick some of these:




and these:


and a couple leaves of basil:



Chop it up, top with a light drizzle of olive oil, and a touch of salt and pepper to taste.



Toast the bread, rub it with a clove of garlic and top with the tomato. Yum!

Asian zucchini salad

In our continuing quest to use up Zucchini and not turn on the oven, I've created this.

6 cup shredded zucchini (3 small, or one very large, or any combo yellow squash and zuchini)
3 Tbs red wine vinegar
1.5 Tbs brown sugar
2 Tbs sesame oil
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp mustard
4 Tbs sesame seeds
salt
pepper

1. grate the zucchini. Salt it well and leave it in a colander to drain for about 30 min
2. whisk together vinegar, sugar, oil, soy sauce, mustard in a small bowl
3. toast the sesame seeds in a frying pan on medium heat (option, grease very lightly with butter first)
4. squeeze as much water as possible out of the zucchini , toss with the dressing and sesame seeds and enjoy!